Posts for: June, 2015

A recent episode of “America’s Got Talent” featured an engaging 93-year-old strongman called The Mighty Atom Jr. The mature muscleman’s stunt: moving a full-sized car (laden with his octogenarian “kid brother,” his brother’s wife, plus Atom’s “lady friend”) using just his teeth. Grinning for host Howie Mandel, Atom proudly told the TV audience that his teeth were all his own; then he grasped a leather strap in his mouth, and successfully pulled the car from a standstill.

We’re pleased to see that the Atom has kept his natural teeth in good shape: He must have found time for brushing and flossing in between stunts. Needless to say, his “talent” isn’t one we’d recommend trying at home. But aside from pulling vehicles, teeth can also be chipped or fractured by more mundane (yet still risky) activities — playing sports, nibbling on pencils, or biting too hard on ice. What can you do if that happens to your teeth?

Fortunately, we have a number of ways to repair cracked or chipped teeth. One of the easiest and fastest is cosmetic bonding with tooth-colored resins. Bonding can be used to fill in small chips, cracks and discolorations in the teeth. The bonding material is a high-tech mixture of plastic and glass components that’s extremely lifelike, and can last for several years. Plus, it’s a procedure that can be done right in the office, with minimal preparation or discomfort. However, it may not be suitable for larger chips, and it isn’t the longest-lasting type of restoration.

When more of the tooth structure is missing, a crown (or cap) might be needed to restore the tooth’s appearance and function. This involves creating a replacement for the entire visible part of the tooth in a dental lab — or in some cases, right in the office. It typically involves making a model of the damaged tooth and its neighbors, then fabricating a replica, which will fit perfectly into the bite. Finally, the replacement crown is permanently cemented to the damaged tooth. A crown replacement can last for many years if the tooth’s roots are in good shape. But what if the roots have been dislodged?

In some cases it’s possible to re-implant a tooth that has been knocked out — especially if it has been carefully preserved, and receives immediate professional attention. But if a tooth can’t be saved (due to a deeply fractured root, for example) a dental implant offers today’s best option for tooth replacement. This procedure has a success rate of over 95 percent, and gives you a natural looking replacement tooth that can last for the rest of your life.

So what have we learned? If you take care of your teeth, like strongman Atom, they can last a long time — but if you need to move your car, go get the keys.

Dentists are the experts when it comes to oral care, but sometimes patients have special requests for their smiles, like prosthetic fangs, gold "grills", tattooed teeth. These might sound crazy to you but wait until you hear some of the other special requests they've heard!

The Chicago Dental Society once surveyed more than 300 society members to find out the strangest dental requests they'd ever received from patients. Their answers might surprise you!

10) "Can you extract my tooth without anesthesia?"

9) "Will you wire my mouth shut to help me with my diet."

8) "Can you identify this set of dentures left in the bathroom of the bar where I work?"

7) "I will pay you or your hygienist to floss my teeth at my office every day."

6) "If I have a tooth growing out of my back, should I see a dentist or a chiropractor?"

5) "I just broke off my engagement. Can you cement the diamond into my tooth so that I can keep it?”

4) "Will you give me local anesthesia in my lips? I'm going in for permanent lipstick tattoos and would like to avoid the pain."

3) "May I have an emergency cleaning visit? It's my high school reunion and I need a bright, white smile to face my old boyfriend."

2) "Can I keep the teeth you pull out of my mouth? I'd like to make a necklace out of them."

When you’re posting a profile photo on LinkedIn, Facebook, Match.com and other social media sites, which shot is likely to make the best impression in terms of “likeability,” “competence” and “influence”? One in which you’re smiling and showing some teeth, for starters, according to PhotoFeeler.com, a crowdsourcing website that helps people evaluate their head shots. If something about your teeth is holding you back from parting your lips when you smile for the camera, here are some tried-and-true options for doing something about it!

Picture-Perfect Color, Shape and Alignment

Improving the color of your teeth may be as easy as getting regular professional cleanings, which are necessary for removal of calculus — dark-yellow hardened buildup of bacterial plaque — and can polish out superficial staining caused by certain beverages and foods.

Actually changing the color of your teeth entails whitening/bleaching. Professional whitening achieves the fastest results because it uses the highest concentration of peroxide solution and custom-fitted trays. In-home whitening kits take longer to work but are less expensive. Results last anywhere from six months to two years.

For permanent whitening results, consider veneers or crowns. In addition to changing tooth color, they can also alter tooth shape, hide wear and even minimize gaps between teeth. Veneers are affixed to the front of teeth, while crowns cover the entire tooth.

Teeth that are chipped, cracked or have noticeable areas of decay, can be restored with bonding, in which a composite resin material is applied that is colored to match your natural teeth.

You can straighten misaligned teeth and no one even has to know you’re doing it. Barely visible and entirely invisible orthodontic appliances include clear braces, lingual braces (attached to the tongue-facing side of teeth) and clear aligners, which are removable for tooth brushing/flossing, cleaning the appliance, eating, and special occasions.